U Nu

U Nu (25 May 1907-14 February 1995) was the first Prime Minister of Burma from 1948 to 1956, preceding Ba Swe; from 1957 to 1958, preceding Ne Win; and from 1960 to 1962, succeeding and preceding Ne Win. He originally fought against the United Kingdom for independence alongside Japan during World War II, but later helped the British in pushing the Japanese out. U Nu and Aung San created a new Burmese government in 1948, creating a wealthy country that would soon devolve into a poor wasteland.

Biography
U Nu was born on 25 May 1907 in Wakema, Myaungmya District, in British India (now a part of Burma). He became the president of the Rangoon University Students Union, and founded the Burmese Socialist Party. In 1940, alongside Ba Maw and many other future Burmese leaders, he was detained by the British authorities and he became the leader of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL) and during the 1940s he aided Japan in their war with the United Kingdom in World War II. U Nu and Aung San led the independence movement against the British government, but Aung San later rebelled against Japan in 1944 and Burma returned to British control in 1945. On 12 August 1945 he and Ba Maw were nearly killed in a bombing raid on their home by Allied pilots during the last months of World War II, as they did not join the rebellion. After the war's end, U Nu, Aung San, and Ba Maw led the independence movement againts the British government, but in 1947 Aung San was killed with his fellow ministers. U Nu and Ba Maw created a new government in 1948, and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee signed over Burma to the new government.

Upon independence on 4 January 1948, U Nu was created as the first Prime Minister of Burma, leading the government. However, Burma was immediately faced with rebellion by the communists in Burma in addition to the Karen people and other resistance movements. He instituted a democratic system, and although Ba Swe succeeded him as Prime Minister in 1956, U Nu remained an important politician and he was Prime Minister from 1957 to 1958; in 1958 Ne Win created a caretaker government at U Nu's request. In 1960, he became Prime Minister for a third term, but in 1962 he was overthrown by the Tatmadaw army under Ne Win and put in "protective control". In 1966 he was released and he feigned illness so that he could travel to India in 1969. He declared in the United Kingdom that he was the legal Prime Minister and that he was still struggling for the implementation of democracy in Burma. He visited many foreign countries and headed to the Northern Illinois University of the United States in 1987 in a lecture on Buddhism. In 1995 he died at the age of 87.